Over the fence
by Mastermindhunter
Summary: I know it's cliche, but if everyone gets to write a humanized story, then me too. It's a bit more different, considering that it's about Rico. He's going on a journey, not only with his new human body, but he has met a particularly unique human as well.
1. The new and exciting world

Over the fence

by

Mastermindhunter

It was seven o clock in the morning in the zoovenier shop. The sun was just coming up. Marlene watched the four penguins carefully, as they waited for the experiment to be completed. They had been considering this invention for quite some time, but she didn't know that they were actually going to put the experiment into action. The idea seemed kind of out there, even for Skipper. They had said it was something that could change them into humans, real live humans! They were going to leave zoo grounds, and walk around New York as real live people. She didn't feel right about it. It was a major leap in their technological development.

Skipper had explained to Marlene why he was doing it. He said he was interested in doing it for the reason that he could do something that was stimulating. Adventure had always grabbed his attention. He wasn't going to pass this up. He might even give Alice a piece of his mind, not that he would tell her it was him, but he always wanted to talk like a human. Private was of course very optimistic with the experience. He knew he was willing to try something new. If he managed to find something that humans did, that he liked it could have been pretty neat. Kowalski was of course interested in anything that served a scientific purpose. Probably going to write down notes the whole time. Rico wasn't so sure about it. Humans were pretty subtle, which was something he definitly knew he would have trouble with.

"Tell me again. Why are you guys doing this in the zoovenier shop again?"

"Beacause humans don't fit in our HQ. We need somewhere bigger." Private explained.

Marlene looked at the rather large piece of equipment. It was pretty big, but a human could carry it under his arm easliy. She took Skipper by the shoulders, and looked at him in the eye. "Skipper? Are you sure you know what your doing? The human world is huge, and if I'm not mistaken, very dangerous! Especially New York." He slowly took her paws off his shoulders.

"Trust me, Marlene. We've been out there plenty of times. I'm pretty sure that if this invention does anything, it'll help increase our safety. Being a human is safer than being a penguin, when your out there in the real world. Now, we'll be gone for a full week. And if anything happens, we'll change back in a flash. I trust I can count on you to be safe for that amount of time?" She looked to the side, and bit her lip, nodding with a smile.

"Yeah. I'm sure I'll be okay. I made it through each day back at my old aquarium. I'm sure I'll survive without four crazy penguins holding my hand." They hugged, and Skipper faced the machine. Kowalski's goggles showed the reflections of the sparks. Marlene asked when the machine would be done, but he wouldn't respond. He was focused fully on the technology infront of the him. Marlene pulled the headphones out of the boom box. He turned back to Marlene, and quietly asked if she didn't do that. He was trying to stay focused. He plugged them back in, and resumed using his blowtorch. She looked at him, like he was acting foolish.

"Just a few more fuses, and . . . I . . . am . . . finished! He stepped back to admire his work. It looked like a large box with a shower head coming out of it. The sides were stainless steel plated. They drew straws to see who would go under the ray first. Private was the one who was the first. Followed by Kowalski, then Skipper and Rico. Private walked underneath the shower like ray, and held his breath, ready for the change. "Are you ready Private?" He nodded his head. He yanked down a large lever, and the ray burst down upon him, looking like electricity. It felt incredibly strange. He felt his body turn very long, and stretched. He felt nauseated as he felt things grow and shrink. Finally Kowalski said he could open his eyes.

"How do I look?" When Kowalski held up a mirror, he was astounded. He was actually quite handsome. His beak was replaced with a nose, teeth, and lips. His onyx black hair was lightly buzzed, and very tough and thick. His eyes were big and expressive. On the sides of his head, there were ears. His body was dressed in a black tuxedo, with a black bowtie. Wings were replaced with hands and long fingers. He wiggled them, as they individually moved. His body was long, and slenderous. He looked down at the others. They were dwarved next to his hieght. It was kind of funny, at how he was now taller than everone else.

Next was Kowalski. He turned it on running underneath it. He looked just like Private, only he had a widows peak in his hair, and he was taller. Next he reached down to turn it on for Skipper. He shot up. The flatness of his head was still showing, but he looked just like the others, with the same widows peak as Kowalski had. Rico was the last to go under. When he came out, his scar was still visible on his face, and his hair at the top was tufted, just like his feathers were, when he was a penguin. He looked at himself with pride, as he smiled at the others.

Skipper looked down at Marlene, and smiled. "What do you think? We're quite handsome eh?" He held onto the lapels of his tuxedo jacket, and smiled that cocky smile of his. Marlene had smiled up to him, and made a little chirping sound. He had suddenly remembered that humans ears were different. They could only hear the voices of other humans. He frowned, and Marlene looked confused. "I almost forgot. Humans can't understand animals. I'm sorry, but whatever you said, I'm sure it was very sweet." He put his hand on Marlene's head, and pet her, like a normal human would. She smiled, and turned back to her habitat. They all thought of what they would do next. "Boys we need to start finding a place to stay. Kowalski, options."

"Well, I guess the first thing we should do is find a hotel, and rent a room." Skipper liked that plan. He looked around the shop, and tried to open the cash register. It wouldn't budge. He turned to Rico for something to open it up with. Rico cleared his throat, and sort of looked at the ground as he spun his foot, which was now clad in a shiny black shoe, in circles. He bit his lip, and shook his head no.

"What's the hold up, Rico?"

"Uhh, Skipper? I sort of told him to empty his hoard of weapons before we preformed the experiment. It was a precaution , in case they would scar his weaker human stomach. In general, he has no weapons." Skipper raised his eyebrow, and looked at the human Rico. He smiled nervously, and shrugged. Skipper smiled, and asked where they were. He pointed over to the island, and grunted. Skipper thought of what to do. He figured Kowalski would know what to do. He asked if he knew where the key could have been. They looked everywhere, until they found it under the water cooler. They grabbed it, and the box opened up, with a cha-ching. Skipper grabbed all the money out of the cash register. He told Private to grab the machine, so they could turn back at any moment they needed to, just in case.

"You've got it Skipper." He grabbed the box, but had only pressed his hands firmly against it. He hadn't thought of wrapping his fingers around it, since he was so used to picking things up the way he always did. With a loud smash, it landed on the floor, broken, and shattered. Eveybody gasped as it hit the floor. They all looked at Private shocked. Privates hands were on his head, his eyes as big as dinner plates.

"Ahh Private what have you done?" Kowalski screeched.

"Oh my gosh I am so sorry! I didn't mean to smash the machine. Human hands are so hard to get used to." He cried. Skipper picked up a cog, and looked at Kowalski with a nervous frown.

"Please for the love of fish, tell me you still have those blueprints." He pleaded Kowalski. Kowalski dug through the tools he brought, and found them under a bunch of disgarded oil cans. Skipper smiled, and breathed a breath of relief.

"Alright how long did it take for you to get that machine to work?" He pointed at the broken heap on the floor, which was once a machine. Kowalski flipped through his notebook, adding up all the hours he took for the machine to work.

"Well it took, and this is counting all the breaks, three days."

"Three days?! What if we get into trouble by then?" Skipper hollered. Kowalski shrugged without an answer. Skipper pinched the bridge of his nose. "All right. I'm sure that if we grab all the money out of the register, we'll be able to pay for some equipment." They all nodded in agreement, and he cleaned out the cash register.

"Sorry, Alice . . . " Skipper said. Then he turned his head to the side, and smiled. "Wait . . . no I'm not." He emptied it, promising himself that he would refill it, once he got the chance. They opened the door, and slipped around the side of the wall. It felt a lot less stealthier, since they were larger. They jumped over the fence, and ran away from the zoo. The grass was no longer between thier toes. They now wore black shiny shoes, and they felt like moving towers. Their long legs felt like stilts. It was a whole new world they were now facing. The skin that replaced their beak was soft, and pink. They flexed their hands, and fingers. They had never felt fingers before, and their skin was way more sensitive, and alert, without feathers to cover it. Still the tuxedos did do them some good, warmth wise. The clock over the zoo, said it was nine. They ran far away from the zoo, so they wouldn;t get caught. In no time they found themselves in a crowded area of the city. Tall skyscrapers were everywhere. They were now stranded out in the midde of the big city stuck as humans. What were they to do?

* * *

**This was inspired by the picture drawn by catrix-reload on deviant art. Here is the link, if you would like to see what they look like as humans. .com/art/The-Penguins-of-Madagascar-127614640. Or if that doesn't work, just go to deviantart,com, and type in penguins of madagascar. It will be the first picture that shows up. It's in back and white, and shows all four of them in a james bond sort of resembance. Trust me. It is very nicey drawn. If you see it differently, then that is your choice. This is just the picture that inspired me.**


	2. Sheraton hotel

Over the fence ch. 2

by

Mastermindhunter

They all looked around the crowded streets, and tried to stay together by holding hands, and not moving too far away, when they looked around. No wonder Marlene was so concerned about their safety. She was right it _was_ scary. They felt scared, but at the same time, they felt sort of brave and alive. The humans all around them were now their own size. They were even taller than some of them. They had never seen any humans as tall as them. It felt kind of strange, but when they stared at all the humans, they didn't stare back. The humans just walked past them, not noticing their freaked out movements. This human look was sure enough the ultimate camouflage. Kowalski held a small notepad, and wrote down everything he saw around him.. How predictable, thought the others.

"Kowalski? I need you to think up a conditional identity for the four of us. If somebody asks, we might be caught off gaurd, so we need something we can all remember. If there's one thing that humans know, it's that a story can change depending on who tells it." Kowalski thought, and looked through his notebook. He was then drawing something down. He smiled and showed a picture of four humans which they guessed resembled their now human form.

"This is our identity. We are four brothers from out of town. We're on vacation, for a whole week, or three days. It depends on how much trouble we get into. As soon as our time is up, we all go back to wherever we came from simple as that." Skipper smiled at that option. It seemed to work so well. The other two would definitly remember. It was so simple, yet so genius.

"All right let me think of where we can go to stay for the week." He looked around, and started walking around like the other humans were. Granted their tuxedo attire, they looked just like normal people. Skipper stopped a young man, who was on the side walk. the young man almost tripped over himself, when Skipper was holding out his hand in a halting fashion. The man would have been insulted, had he not been staring at the four uniformed men infront of him. "Exuse me, New Yorker, do you know of any hotels where me and my . . . brothers would be welcomed to?" The human looked them up and down, like they were something out of a fancy restaraunt. All four of them looked just alike. He thought of what type of hotel they would be suited to.

"Uhh, well for four well dressed guys like you, I would suggest, the Sheraton New York hotel, and towers. Very classy place for a bunch of guys with taste like you all. It's got everything, fine dining, spa rooms, trust me you all look like you could earn a few massage treatments."

"Hmm sounds suitable. Wouldn't you say Private?" Private nodded his head in agreement. "Well then it's settled. Could you point us in the direction of that hotel?"

"Uhh yeah. Just follow this road, then turn right, onto fifth avenue. After that keep going till you see west 53rd street. Take a right at that street, Next turn left at 7th avenue. The exact adress is 811 7th avenue. If you hit the Sheraton Manhattan hotel, you've gone too far." Just like that, the young man dissappeared into the crowd of humans, as fast as he appeared.

"Did any of you boys get that?" They all shook their heads. Skipper might have been human, but he never learned to read. That counted road signs. Then he had an idea. He might not have been able to read, but taxi drivers sure knew where they were going.

The taxi's were everwhere. Skipper had, all but forgot how to hail a taxi. He watched as every taxi zoomed by. He had seen humans hail taxi's before, so how hard could it be? He was sure it was quite easy. A woman across from him walked right off the road, and jumped into one on the other side of the street. Wow it seemed easier than he thought. He walked a little distance off of the curb, and held his arm out to a few taxi's. Some had lights on top of their cars on, others were turned off. Some had lights on in the center, while others were on the side. A taxi with the lights on in the center stopped for him. They all very uniformingly got inside. Inside there was a slender looking man with a black goatee, and a dark green scally cap on. He took a glance at the four, then quickly looked back in the mirror, to see what he actually thought he saw. He then looked down, and pressed a button.

"Where to?" He grunted with a smile.

"The Sheraton New York hotel and towers, please sir." Private smiled. He nodded, and they taxi slowly cruised through the streets. The four smiled at each other, and sat back to relax, Rico was staring out the window, looking at all the different type of humans that passed. Some big and small. Some simple looking, others distinguished. Skipper was looking back at Rico, ponting his head away from the window. He frowned and slowly pulled his head back into the taxi.

"So where are you boys from? I know you're not from around here."

"Oh we're on vacation. We're just four brothers, taking a vacation here in New York for a week. You know. We want to see some nice places, and see what the big apple has to offer." Kowalski figited his new hands as he spoke. Through the rear view mirror, the taxi driver smiled. He raised an eyebrow, thinking of something the boys would like.

"I know this is probably a no, considering how you boys look, but do you guys like ice cream?" They all nodded, except Rico who had a big smile on his face. He hummed out an excited _"Mmm Hmm." _The taxi driver was quite surprised by their answer. "Oh well, my daughter works at an ice cream shop called the sweet cream factory, right here in Manhattan. This might sound wierd, but she's very friendly and she makes the best home made ice cream you all have ever had. If you all want to have any type of ice cream, you can bet she'll make it. Just call for Gwyneth, she makes it real good. It's right on this street, and in walking distance. " By then, they had reached the hotel's front entrance. They paid him, and walked out. It was huge.

Inside, the cieling was low, but the lobby's room was rather vast. As Kowalski, Private, and Rico were admiring the nice architecture, Skipper walked up to one of the counters. A rather tall woman with white hair was behind the counter. She had a black beauty mark, and seemed rather stuck up. She asked with a sneer, what the four boys wanted. They asked if they could book an expensive room. The woman gave them a presidential suite, on the 21st floor. She handed Skipper four key cards. He took them, with a smile.

"Thank you ma'am" Skipper said sweetly. The woman just rolled her eyes. Skipper snickered at the woman's coldness. He slipped into the elevator, and the four waited till they reached the 21st floor.

"Well this is the number on the key card." Kowalski looked at the key card, and slipped his into the slot. The light beeped green, and the door opened up to a room big enough for all four to lay down on. The room was one of the most elegant rooms they had ever seen. Even Skipper was astounded at this dazzling room. It had been not only a room, but more like an entire home. He could definitly stay here for a week. There were four beds, and each one was a full poster bed. This had to be the lap of luxery.

"All right this is what we're going to do. We're going to grab the equipment, tools, and whatever else Kowalski needs to rebuild the machine. After that we spend some time for ourselves, and each get a chance to do whatever it is we want to do. After about nine o clock, we head back here, and we all try to work on the machine a little bit every day. Does that make sense boys?" They all agreed it sounded pretty fair. It was about eleven o clock, and they still hadn't had anything to eat. They were starving, especially Rico, who was normally full with his weapons inside of him.

They went down to a soup restaraunt a few blocks away, and grabbed some pea soup, and a peanut butter sandwhich, with coffee. The soup was rather warm, and tasty. The peanut butter was actually so thick the boys needed to take a sip of their coffee in order for it to go down. After their quick meal, they went down to the hardware store to grab all their supplies, and tools. The hardware store was very big and spacious. There was wood, hammers, super glue. If Kowalski didn't know better, it was like they made a store specially made for him. After an hour, they fnally headed back to the hotel, with plastic bags in tow. When they headed back, they had all set each cog, nut, bolt, wire, and tool down on the huge dining table for Kowalski to mark each piece in accordance to his blueprints.

"Alright I think I'd like to take a break. I might get this done faster, since being a human has made my arms longer to reach things. Now I don't have to walk back and forth. I might be done faster than I thought. It's like Private never broke it." Skipper looked at it, and realized that he was right. Each piece was marked, and neatly placed on the table, for him to work with. He figured that it definitly could wait, and Kowalski could wait three days. There was seriously no rush. They were enjoying their time as humans.

Each one decided on which bed belonged to them. Private took the one that was closest to the door. Rico took the one that was up in the loft, so he could see eveything that happened. Skipper took the one that was right next to the window, and Kowalski took the one that was near the door next to the kitchen, where all his supplies were. Each one of them took thier black shiny shoes off, and relaxed on the beds. They felt super soft, and barely ever used. Each bed had a lamp on the bedside table. Inside was a tiny pad of paper and pencil. When they checked out the coffee table in the living room, there was a map of the areas around the hotel. It showed the ice cream shop, that the man in the taxi was talking about.


	3. Gwyneth

Over the fence ch. 3

by

Mastermindhunter

The map showed that the sweet cream factory was only a few builings away. The time was about noon. It didn't seem like time was going slow enough. Their experience as humans was very fascinating, fun, and a little exciting. If they were going to have the best homemade ice cream in New York, as the man in the taxi claimed, then they figured they would have it on their first day as humans. First, though, they figured that they might want to buy some hygenic products. If there was one thing that humans didn't know how to do, it was naturally clean themselves.

At the superstore, there was a vast selection of personal hygene products. No wonder humans didn't take the time to naturally clean themselves. Not with all these fancy soaps, and sprays to do it for them. They all grabbed a toothbrush, toothpaste, some body wash, shampoo, cologne, a nail kit, q-tips, a comb and a razor. As soon as they hit they hit the checkout lane, Private saw an area of clothes. He ran over, and asked the others to follow. There were many selections of tuxes, and a woman said they were on sale. They each grabbed three tuxes, a white sleevless shirt, jeans, some underwear, socks, and a pair of pajamas. At the hotel, they all got themselves cleaned, and put the clothes in the closets.

"Skipper, I'm tired. Can we just go to the sweet cream factory?" Private was tired, and plopped onto the bed. Leting out a big breath. Skipper smiled at how Private was so exhausted from shopping.

"Aww alright. We'll go and get some sweet ice cream. Who else wants to go with us?" Kowalski and Rico were right up next to them in no time. Apparantly everyone wanted to go. They walked on out, and the streeets were filled as always. The taxi's whizzed past, with rushing buisnessmen running in pursuit. They kept along the route that the map showed. In no time a building with multiple powdery colors appeared on their left. The sign showed a pink ice cream cone. This was surely the place. They opened the door, and the bell above the door caused them all to snap into a ready to fight position. Inside everybody looked at them with a raised eyebrow. Skipper cleared his throaght, and blushed darker than normal. It showed up darker now that there were no feathers to hide it. The building's interior was full of customers. It looked very puffy, and smelled sweet.

They approached the counter, but there were no people infront of it. Underneath the glass, there was ice cream of all colors, and flavors. In front of the counter, there was a small bell, with a button in the middle. Rico pushed the button, and as if suddenly out of instinct a girl ran out from two swinging doors, and up to the fours boys. She was around the same age as their human bodies were. Her eyes were very intense green. She had the same black hair that the taxi driver had. It cascaded around her body, like a curtain. She looked at each one with a small smile. They were definitly different from what she normally saw. She looked in the front of the store, as if waiting to see the presidents limo. They all stared at the girl as she greeted them with an even bigger grin.

"Hello welcome to the sweet cream factory. My name is Gwyneth. How may I help you?" Skipper remembered that the man in the taxi told them to specifically ask for Gwyneth. This must have been his daughter.

"Your name is Gwyneth?" Private asked with raised eyebrows. She smiled, and nodded, as she held up the nametag. It must have read Gwyneth, but the others couldn't read, of course. "Hey, one of the taxi drivers told us to ask for you. He said you made the best homemaid ice cream in New York." She rolled her eyes, aware of her father's nosing in her job. Her emerald green eyes staring up at the cieling. That was something none of them were expecting.

"Yeah I should have expected that. He likes to bring customers up to me, sometimes. Says that it's his way of being an advertisement. We don't have much money for advertising our little spot of a dessert restaraunt. Still, though as soon as we get the customers here, we always get them coming back." She pointed out all the customers that were enjoying their treats of pies, cookies, shakes and other goodies. "So what can I get four debonaire boys like yourselves, today?" Skipper looked at the different tubs of soft ice creams, and rubbed his chin. There were so many different types to choose from. He finally saw one he liked.

"Coffee flavored, in bowl, please." She grabbed two ice cream scoopers, and dug them into the tub that had light biege ice cream. She scooped it up, and plopped it in the bowl, and kneaded the ice cream around while adding the milk and sugar, and then grabbed a white plastic spoon, and stuck it in the bowl. Kowalski walked up to the cashier next.

"Honey flavored in a cone please." She clutched the scooper, and dug it into the honey flavored tub all the way on the other side of the room. The light yellow scoop was especially large. She wasn't going to rip them off. She was a great scooper.

"What about you hone?" Gwyneth smiled to Private. Private smiled back, and put his index finger up to his cheek, pondering. The others didn't need to think twice to know what Private was going to order.

"Butterscoth ice cream, please. Two scoops?" She smiled, and grabbed her scooper, and plunged into the tub, that was closest to her, she smushed them on each other. The sugary tower stood tall, as Private grabbed his food.

Rico walked up to her ready to point out his choice of flavor, but froze. He could have swore that if the boys said anything about his dolly, he wouldn't have cared. This girl was a hundred times more breathtaking than his doll could have ever been. Her eyes were like two enchanted forests that he could have gotten lost in. Her ebony locks were thick, and came down like a waterfall of black. He could have sworn that if that couldn't draw him in, those gorgeous freckles could. He stood there smiling, not knowing that the girl in front of him asked for his choice. Skipper slapped him on the side of his face. He snapped back to reality.

"I said what would you like, darling." Her smile was still there, and she was still holding her scooper in her hands. He blinked away his embarrasing glance, and pointed to the french vanilla. She looked at him, then asked if he was pointing to the french vanilla. He nodded, and smiled a little wider than he hoped to. She smiled back, and asked him if he wanted a waffel cone or bowl. He looked at the two choices on the stand behind her, then thought for a bit. Skipper cleared his throat to grab the young lady's attention.

"Umm he can't talk. He's not uneducated or anything. He just can't speak. I'm sure that he would prefer waffel cones. Is that what you want Rico?" He nodded with a sparkle in his eyes. She nodded, and scooped up a french vanilla cone, and handed it to him. His smile was enough of a thank you. She smiled back at him. They paid for their treats, and looked to see if there were any customers behind them. There weren't so they struck up conversation.

"So let me guess, brothers I presume?" She moved around, a little. They were surprised that she picked up their hidden identity so quickly. She shrugged, and looked down. "Well I figured that, since you all dress the same, and actually kind of have the same facial features. We don't usually get people dressed like you all. You know, the whole tuxedo thing, and all."

"Yep. We're kind of from out of town. You know. We're on holiday, and thought we would take a family vacation up here in New York for a week. We booked a suite over at the Sheraton hotel and towers down there." Kowalski explained. She eyed them up and down, slowly giving a sly smile. Then she put the scooper down.

"Oh that's not too far from here. Where are you boys from?" Uh-oh. Kowalski hadn't given him anything to work with on that subject. Skipper thought quickly, and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Baltimore, Maryland." It was recognizable, and not too far away. She bought it as she smiled, shifting her weight. The boys nodded, and she looked into Rico's eyes as he was focused on her.

"Well, that's pretty neat. I hope that you all enjoy your vacation here in New York. If you all feel like having any treats, come on over here, and stop by. I'll be here from seven in the morning, to two thirty in the evening, which is pretty close." She glanced at her watch. They all ran over to a table, which was holding four chairs. They dug into their ice cream, and if anything were true, the taxi driver was right. It was like a bit of heaven right there in the shop. The ice cream was delicious.

"Wow! Gwyneth sure does know how to make some delicious ice cream." Private smiled as he licked his sugary concotion. Skipper nodded, and took a spoonful of his cafine based treat

"Very true, Private. I'm sure glad we said yes to that taxi driver." Kowalski closed his eyes savoring the sweet taste of the ice cream.

"This is unbelievable. I don't know about you boys, but I think I might come back tomorrow." They all nodded in agreement, except Rico. He was staring at Gwyneth goggley eyed, and occasionally taking licks of his ice cream. She was so beautiful, and definitly rivaled the ice cream's sweetness. She was so nice, and didn't care that he had a scar. Even in his human form, people occasionally stared at his scar. She was something different though. It seemed like he had just met his hearts desire. He didn't know how to tell her how beautiful she was.

"I'm going to take my break Mr. Martin!"

"Alright, Gwyneth!" When she walked out from behind the counter, Rico watched her in every stride, but Kowalski was whispering over to Rico. Rico looked over at Kowalski. He was pointing at her legs. What was so important about her . . . foot?

He looked down to her jeans. Out of the jeans she had a sneaker shoed foot, but no foot on the right leg. Where her right foot was supposed to be, there was a long dark black thick plate that curved out flat, and curved upward to slightly above her ankle. She had one foot, and a prosthetic foot right above her right ankle. Private couldn't take his eyes away from it, but did eventually when Skipper whispered hoarsley for Private to quit staring. Skipper looked down to his ice cream as if he felt guilty to have both of his feet. Kowalski looked to his right as if trying to figure out what could possibly happen to a young lady, as to where her foot would be cut off. It didn't bother Rico though. She didn't have a right foot. Big deal. She was still as kind hearted as before. When she walked over to an open table, she took out a bologne sandwhich, and some pretzels, and started eating. Apparantly she didn't notice that all four of the boys were staring straight at her.


	4. Ossur

Over the fence ch. 4

by

Mastermindhunter

Rico watched Gwyneth eat her food in silence. How could he not know that such a beautiful girl was right here in New York City? He used his fist to hold his chin up. She ate a few of her pretzels, and then took a quick glance at Rico. He was caught of gaurd, but quickly regained himself, and smiled a crooked, wild smile. She looked down, a smile creeping around her face, figiting her foot. The others watched her too, but were focused on something else. The blade-like prosthetic foot was in the shape of a **J,** and looked pretty strong. On the part where it curved in, there was a sticker that said **OSSUR**. They all looked away, and ate quietly. Rico watched them all acting like they had never seen somebody different. He narrowed his eyebrows, and smashed his tongue against his french vanilla. They all resumed eating, and Skipper struck up some conversation.

"So, you guys want to go back to the hotel, and hang out a bit?" Private smiled, and nodded. They all agreed, but Rico wanted to spend more time with Gwyneth. He didn't want to go back. Regardless, it was the majority vote, so they headed back, and relaxed a little.

They headed toward the pool. Nobody was at the pool, it being a five star hotel, and there were mostly older people at the hotel. All four of them hanged out in the pool, and swam all around. They practiced their combat moves. They seemed to feel stronger, now that they were human. After that, everone relaxed at the pool's side. Kowalski was doing laps, trying out to see how fast his human body could swim. Unfortunately, he was slower than his penguin form. Skipper was jumping off the high dive, practicing his jacknife dive form. Private was lying on his back, enjoying his human boyancey. Rico was laying on one of the chaise lounges, smiling at the cieling.

"Come on, and join the fun, Rico." Skipper said as he jumped in, and surfaced. He rolled his eyes, and jumped off the chaise lounge. He ran up to the ladders highest peak, and flipped in the air three times, ending in a swan dive. Everybody noticed how much energy there seemed to be in his jump. They all watched, as he surfaced, and dived underwater, again. He was doing it over and over again. He stayed down for a little while, and Private seemed to notice it. When he went under, Rico was facing upwards, looking at the cieliings appearance change in the water, smiling.

Rico looked over at Private. Private suddenly surface, feeling as though he was invading Rico's privacy. Rico jumped out, and dried off. He ran over to his chaise lounge chair, and laid a towel over his eyes, with his tongue hanging out. When he finally fell asleep, they all huddled together. They knew something was up with Rico.

"Wow, Skipper. I think Rico's a little excited about something. What do you think is wrong with him?" Private seemed puzzled. Skipper looked at him with his open mouth.

"Hmm I'm not sure. I noticed that too. What do you think is wrong with him boys? Kowalski analysis." Kowalski looked at him, and rubbed his chin.

"Well I noticed this was happening, as soon as we left the ice cream shop."

"Oh don't worry about it, Private. I'm sure he was just really fond of the ice cream." Private thought this was more than an extreme liking of ice cream. There must have been something at the shop that caught his eye.

When they headed back to their rooms, they all changed into their relaxation clothes, and Kowalski got the invention out. He gave each penguin (or human) a piece of the equipment to work on. Skipper was plugging a wire into a socket, Private was hammering a nail into the side of something, and Kowalski was using a blowtorch on a piece of metal. Rico was given a monkey wrench, installing a dna stabilization core, whatever that was. He was looking out the window at the city, and thought of Gwyneth, and what she must be doing. What if she fell in love with one of the boys who could talk? That would just make him want to change back to a penguin faster.

Private noticed it, and saw that Rico was stroking his scar, which was something he did when he had something on his mind. They had got the machine a little closer to being done. It was one fourth the way finished, and the boys were sore with aching muscles.

"I'm headed out to look for a sushi restaurant. Would anybody like me to bring something back for them?" Skipper looked up to the doorway. He thought that sounded tasty, and asked if he could grab some dirty rice with it. Private asked if he could get some shrimp with the sushi, when he was walking into the shower, and Rico just shrugged and looked up to the cieling.

"Noodles!" Rico grunted. Kowalski grinned, and nodded to his comrads, as he rushed out the door. Rico jogged up to his bed, up in the loft, which was a bit hidden. There was a wall that was three feet tall over the second floor bed. When he hopped out of the shower, fifteen minutes later, Private couldn't help but feel like there was something he wasn't knowing that he wanted to know. This just wasn't Rico. Skipper wouldn't understand. He didn't notice when people were distressed. It was up to Private. He jogged up the stairs, and saw Rico drawing something, and quickly put it under the bed. Private noticed the quick movement, and frowned at his distressed face. He gently sat down on the bed, and smiled to Rico. Rico let out a growl that said he didn't want any company.

"Uhh Rico? I noticed you've been kind of off, lately. Not that it's a bad thing, I've just noticed that you've been a lot quieter than normal. Is something on your mind that you want to talk about. I won't tell anyone." He rolled his eyes, and shook his head no.

"Uh-uh" He sneered. Private let out a heavy groan, and turned towards him.

"Alright, but if you change your mind, I'll be right here to help you out with whatever it is." Rico made a raspberry noise, but cut it short when they heard the door downstairs open. Kowalski apparantly had returned with the food. The smell of rice filled the air. Rico jogged downstairs in an attempt to grab his noodles, leaving Private all alone in the loft. Maybe he was just acting silly. Maybe Rico was just a little happy with his new human body, and didn't have anything wrong with him. He reached under the bed, and pulled out the paper Rico had shoved under the bed. he wanted to look at it, but heard footsteps up the staircase. He quickly shoved it in his pocket, and stood up innocently.

Kowalski stood at the top of the staircase. He held the shrimp, and sushi in his hands. Private was staring at him waiting for him to say something.

"Would you like to join us?" he nodded, biting his lower lip. They all sat in the living room. Watching television. The sushi was pretty good. They had to admit that. When it was done, each opened up their fortune cookie, and ate the cookie. They casted aside the fortune, since they couldn't read. When it was ten, they all changed into their pajamas, and turned in for the night.

Private woke up in the middle of the night. He had a nightmare about a leopard seal chasing him in the water. It was probably from a story that Kowalski told him about, long ago. He had sat straight up, still drowsy. His eyes were squinted shut. He stood up, and walked over towards the sink in front of the bathroom. He grabbed one of the glasses stacked on top of eachother. The water came out quietly from the sink with a quiet hiss. He guzzled it down, and sat up on the bed.

There was no way he was going to be able to fall back to sleep. The nightmare scared him too much. He glanced into the dining room, sleep stll in his eyes. The machine was still the same as they left it that evening. Still in pieces. he still felt pretty clumsy about dropping it. It was of course an accident, but he didn't let the guilt slide off of himself. He walked over to it. Every piece of equipment was neatly set out. He picked up a quarter sized cog, and rolled it around in his fingers. That's when it slipped out of his grasp. The piece rolled out, and over to his bundle of clothes.

It landed on his pants. He picked up the cog, and loked at it shamefully. "You naughty cog." He laughed sleepily. He put it in his pocket to carry it back to the stack of pieces. When he looked back down, the paper was still sticking out of his pants. Rico didn't know he took it. Should he look at it? Should he put it back? The curiousness side got the better of him. He slowly eased the paper out, and sat back on the bed. He took a deep breath, and unfolded it.

"Private?"

Private gasped, and folded the paper back up to a little triangle, and stuck it in his pajamas pockets. Why did the pajamas have pockets?

"What are you doing up at this this hour? It's midnight." Skipper whispered, as he rubbed his eye with a balled up fist.

"Nothing Skipper. Just had a nightmare" He looked at his pillow as he laid back down.


	5. Bike ride

Over the fence ch. 5

by

mastermindhunter

The next morning, private jumped into the shower, to wash off the sweat of last nights nightmare. He was trying to think of what the four of them would be doing today. He thought of what would sound like fun. What would all four them enjoy? The world of New York had so much to offer. There had to be _something_ they could do for a while out there. They could go to the empire state building, statue of liberty, anywhere! When the hot water ran out, he jumped out, and dried off, and changed into a suit.

The two others were up, and changing into suits of their own. Where was Rico? He walked up to the loft, and found Rico staring out through the window towards the side of the street, where the sweet cream factory sat. He was laying his chin on his fingers, smiling from ear to ear. Private had almost forgot the paper. Right now he was thinking of what was wrong with Rico. Rico hadn't tried to regurgitate or swallow any types of items. Maybe it was so he would be better safe than sorry. He wasn't noticing Private. Private walked over, and gently laid his hand on his shoulder Rico jumped at the contact.

"Sorry Rico. Didn't mean to frighten you. We're about to leave in a second. I thought we should have some breakfast down in the restaurant, downstairs." He nodded, and smiled to Private. Rico took a shower, and changed into some clean clothes, and put on some nice smelling cologne. While Rico was in the bathroom, Private grabbed the paper out of his p.j.s, and put it in his pocket. When he came down to the main floor, they ran downstairs, all cleaned up, and had some pancakes. Skipper thought of what they should do for the day.

"How does bike riding sound, guys? It's so fun looking, and it helps keep you in shape." They all smiled,and nodded.

"We'll ride in Central Park. How does that sound?"

"Sound good to me Skipper." Kowalski grinned. They quickly ate the food on their plates, and jumped out of the hotels. They walked past the sweet cream factory on the way to the bike rental store. Gwyneth was inside. Rico looked inside, and waved to her. She waved back, and smiled with color in her cheeks. Skipper pushed him, and told him to keep moving. They reached the bike store, and rented four bikes. It took them a while to adjust to balancing on them, but as soon as that was figured out, it was pretty easy. They rode quickly, and past many different flowers, and trees. They loved learning to ride bikes.

Rico loved the feel of wind in his new hair. The butterflies that were dusting their feathers up ahead were stirred, and they all flew around him. It felt amazing. What a new and exciting life he could lead as a human. He felt like he flying. the central park smelled like flowers and pollen. He let out a grumbled loud "Whooo-hoo!" The others smiled at his love of biking. He smiled at the humans that they passed by. The humans would smile back at the quiet, but most happiest one of the four. His smile was from ear to ear. He took of deep breath of air, and sighed as if experiencing the world for the first time. The boys could only watch as Rico was zooming around, Standing up off the seat. He was definitly different.

As soon as they were done bicycling, the boys got worn out, and stopped at a seafood restauraunt. When the boys got their meals, Private asked if he could use the bathroom. Skipper allowed him to go. He ran straight to the back, and got into a stall. he locked the door, and unfolded up the paper. He had to see what Rico was hiding from everyone. Private was astounded at what he saw. It was a drawing, a very nice one. There was a human figure that hat had a mohawk and a line going down from his cheek straight down his lip, smiling. A second human figure was holding it's hand. It was a girl with long hair, and a J shape on her right foot. They were enclosed in a giant heart. Private guessed it was Rico and Gwyneth. He couldn't believe it. Rico as in love with a_ human?_

He had to tell the others, but how? Would Rico understand? Or more importatly, what would Skipper say? Would he allow him to see her? H put those questions aside, and went back to the table to eat with everyone else. he looked at Rico. He looked at Private as if he had no clue that Private knew, which he didn't. Private sat there, and ate his fish quietly. Skipper and Kowalski were talking about how fun the bike ride was, and Rico was nodding his head in agreement.

After the lunch, they went to the sweet cream factory, once again. Inside it was slightly less full. Rico ran the bell as he did before. Gwyneth opened the doors the same way she always did. The boys were alot more quiet, and a bit more hesitant than yesterday, when she walked up to the counter. She looked at the boys, and suddenly grinned at all of them. She obviously remembered them.

"Hey welcome back, guys. What would you all like?" She smiled at them all as she did yesterday. She quickly looked at Rico, then glanced away quickly, being shied as he smiled at her akwardly.

"Uhh I think we would all like a large chocolate milkshake. Is that alright with you guys?" Kowalski nodded. Private looked at her, knowing what he saw on the paper. He suddenly got pulled out of his glance, and nodded quickly. Rico slowly nodded smiling with a big smile. She smiled at Rico as she pursed her lips. Then she fakely ran her fingers through her hair.

"Okay guys . . . uhh I'll be right back back with your shakes." She ran over swinging her right leg as she ran. They all watched her run over to the milkshake machine, and looked at the mechanical extremity. Rico looked at them angrily, and smacked them on the shoulder to stop looking at her like that. they eventually stopped staring figuring out that Rico didn't appreciate them staring at her like that. She walked back with four tall glass milkshakes, with straws in each one. Rico and the others smiled, recieving their treats. Skipper got his money out to pay

"Uhh Skipper? I think you should let Rico pay." Private smiled to Skipper. Skipper raised an eyebrow, but agreed to giving Rico the wallet. Rico smiled, and took the wallet, and pulled out the desired amount. He laid the money on the glass counter. Gwyneth counted the money out, and looked up to the disguised penguin.

"You're a quarter short, Rico." She looked at him, with a frown. He pretended to touch different parts of his tuxedo jacket, as if trying to find a quarter. He then looked at Gwyneth's head, like she had something in her hair. He reached behind her ear, and held between his index and thumb, a quarter. She honestly didn't know how he did that, but then again, she never figured that trick out. He flipped the coin, and held it in his palm. She reached out to grasp the coin, but when she reached into his hand she hesitated, and quickly formed a blush. He blushed back.

"Rico! Come on, man. Your shake is melting fast." He looked back at the three who had already found a table. He nodded to the others, and grabbed the sides of the coin, and spun it on the clean glass counter. He quickly ran over to the three that waited in the dining room. She smiled, as she put her palm over the coin, and took it between her index finger and thumb. He watched her dissappear into the back with a smile on her face, as she started making more ice cream. He smiled into his milkshake. Man this girl was really something to him. He looked at the clock on the wall. It said one thirty. Seriously? A whoe hour? Jeez! He didn't want to wait. He wanted to see her now! She had waked over to a corner booth, in the side of the shop. Rico looked over at the boys, then at her. She wasn't sitting with anybody.

Private noticed as well. He knew that Rico now had a crush on this girl, but should he walk over to her? The fact that he couldn't talk was bad enough. To like a girl, but not be able to tell her? Now that's what sounded really heartbraking He stood up, and strode over to her. She was looking at her bag lunch, and bouncing her left foot on the floor. She looked as he walked over to her. The boys were right behind him. She smiled as they stopped at her table. Rico pointed to the side of the booth that was next to her, and raised his eyebrows smiling a very shy smile. The other side could hold the boys comfortably, but it seemed like Rico wanted to sit next her alone. She looked at the boys, and replied.

"Oh of course! Why not?" They encased her. She sat there, cutching her peanut butter sandwhich. The sience was akward, almost agonizing. She couldn't take it anymore. "So how are you boys enjoying New York? Is it more stimulating than Baltimore?" She took a bite, after her question. Kowalski shrugged his shoulders.

"Most definitly. We're all enjoying it. Rico, on the other hand, seems to be enjoying it the most." They all turned in Rico's direction. He smiled, and turned towards the window avoiding any unwanted assumptions. She smiled, and looked at her sandwhich. Rico held his shake up to her. She looked at it, then frowned. Her hand was held up, in a refusing, but still modest fashion. Apparently, she didn't like ice cream.

"Oh no thank you. The last thing I want is ice cream. Trust me. When you stay in this place for a long enough time, you just want to stay away." She chuckled. Rico sat it back down. Skipper looked at her suspicously.

"So gwyneth. You don't like ice cream. Still you manage to work here of all restauraunts. So why work in-"

"An ice cream factory?" She finished his sentance. He nodded. "Well when I was younger, I was always trying to look for better ways to get around. As you all are very aware, I have one foot." They pursed their lips, and nodded. "Well when I saw this model, I tried it out, and it worked so well, in getting me moving faster, and easier. I decided that I woud get a job, and save some money, to buy one. I was recommended here by someone who was actually related to the doctor who fixed me up. I enjoyed the job so much, so here I am." She held her hands out. She looked at her watch, and started getting a little tense. It read three thirty five.

"Oh man. I'm totally dead. I gotta go, guys. If you all come here tomorrow, stop by a eleven, and I'll talk to you guys later." Rico moved away from the seat, to let Gwyneth out. She ran over to the door, her purse in tow.

"Where are you headed?" Private asked.

"My other job!" She shouted behind her back.


	6. Busted!

Over the fence ch. 6

by

Mastermindhunter

Gwyneth was scramming out the door, putting her purse around her shoulder. She ran past the large plate of glass, seperating the streets of the big apple from the tiny shop. She was apparantly on thin ice with her second job, whatever it may be. And just like that, she was gone into the crowd of eight point three million people. Rico suddenly felt embarrased by his actions. He had distracted her with conversation, and might have caused her to get fired. Great! Now she was sure to hate him now! He put his right hand over his eyes, and clenched his jaw, making the tendants in his neck show. The boys watched Rico, as he felt like an idiot. He plopped down on the both's corner. He knew that he wouldn't get the chance to see her, until tomorrow. Well at least she was willing to see them once again. They each finished up their shakes, and left to go find something else to do. It seemed a bit pointless to Rico, though. What was the point in going anywhere, if she wasn't there, to spend time with him?

Rico was alot quieter that evening. Still he wasn't going to stop having a good time in the human word. They hopped back on their bikes, and started to ride around Manhattan for a little while, before returning them back to the rental shack. No doubt Rico was excited once again. He was bicycling harder than he thought he could. He left the boys in the dust once again. About two hours later, the dark clouds were over head. It started to violently rain. They decided to go to the hotel when it started to downpour. Rico didn't want to. The feeling of water through his hair felt nice cool and refreshing, but even he was going to head home. When he turned a corner, there was the bike rental shack. He curved inwards to send his bike back. The stubby guy, grabbed the bike from the much taller Rico. The boys weren't far behind. The shop from the hotel was i differnt story. Bike rentals were very far from the Sheraton hotel. They hailed a taxi, and who else was it to pick them up, but Gwyneth's father? He had the same dark green scally cap on, as yesterday.

"Boys!" Gwyneth's father smiled, and laughed. They all smiled back, and jumped in one by one. "Let me guess, the Sheraton hotel?" Skipper smiled, and nodded. He pulled out, and started his drive. "Hey, here's the deal. You guys are really awsome, so I'm gunna give you all one on the house."

"Wow, that's really nice of you Mr. Gwyneth's father."

"Ehh . . . just call me Bill. So, I heard that you guys came over to the sweet cream factory, not once, but twice." He said, scrathing his goatee. "What made you boys come back?"

"It must be the ice cream. Your daughter sure can make some good cream." Skipper commented. Bill smiled, looking in the mirror.

"I guess. When she first saw you, she said she thought that you boys were with the secret service, you know, with the tuxes and all. She also said that you boys all have peular taste in ice cream flavors. Really, coffee flavored?" Skipper raised his eyebrows, in an oh-well kind of shrug. "That's good though, very distinguished." They kept driving through the flooded streets. "So which one of you is Rico?"

Rico raised his hand slightly. Bill smiled warmly in the mirror. "She says your really unique. She said you were really cool, doing that whole quarter trick. She likes clever little tricks like that, ever since she was little. Is it true what she said, that you can't talk?" Rico looked down, and nodded. Bill looked away from the mirror, smiled warmer than before. "Don't worry, she doesn't mind. She actually says your pretty cool." Rico smiled excitedly. Private smirked a little, knowing what it meant.

"Well, here we are. You guys take care of yourselves. Oh, and if you ever want to talk to Gwyneth aside from her job, call this number. She breaks her back, working at this place." He gave Rico a piece of paper that had a number, and address. He grinned, and tucked it in his jacket pocket. They left the cab, and ran up to their rooms, and plopped down on the beds, worn out from the bike rides. Rico ran up to the loft, and smiled at the town once again. Every sparkle of the lights, every building seemed unique. The fact that Gwyneth said he was cool, made his heart flutter. He could hardly belueve it. He happily reached under the bed to grab his picture, but couldn't feel it. He reached further under, and laid up, gasping a loud enough gasp of horror. He looked under the bedskirt, and it was gone. He scurried the floor, loking under the loft's bedside table. Wheredid his picture go?

"I found it earlier." Private was standing at the top of the staircase, glancing guiltily at his picture. Private looked down at it, then at him. "You could have told us. I told you I wouldn't tell anyone." Rico stared at him holding his picture. This could not be happening! Private wasn't supposed to know. Nobody was. He felt his face turning red. The fact that he knew he was blushing, made his face even hotter. He walked over to him, and swiped the picture away, inspecting the inside to se if he drew anything else. Skipper and Kowalski were walking up to the loft staring at Rico with an understanding smile. He was staring at them, his mouth slightly open, his eyebrows in an worried, embarrased look.

He walked over to his bed, and laid down on it. His face hardened to a look of anger, and broken trust. He pointed down to the lower floor, with a grunt. That apparently meant to leave him alone. Skipper felt bad, and walked down to the first floor, with his eyes in his hands, staring down. Kowalski whispered a "yep." and started down the stairs, their long legs made little bumping sounds against the carpeted stairs. Rico's mouth was trembling. Private stayed up there.

"Listen Rico," Rico buried his face in the pillow, and tucked the picture in his pocket. His hands were straight at his sides. "I know your upset, but Skipper understands, and so does Kowalski. They want you to be happy." Rico looked up from his pillow, his eyes a little confused, and hopeful at the same time. "We're going to let you be with Gwyneth. We'll give you some dating tips." He sat up from his slump, with a twinkle in his eye, and gave him a big Rico bear hug. Private smiled, and grunted with the hug squishing him a little. "You're welcome." He laughed. Rico blushed, and held his paper close.

"So does it bother you, that she has one leg?" Rico shook his head with an "Uh-uh" Private had to admit it did surprise him, but he didn't mind.

That night, they showed Rico some ways to ask Gwyneth out.

"Alright." Skipper said. "Pretend I'm Gwyneth, and I'm about to be asked out by you. What is your approach?" Rico looked up at the cieling, rubbing his chin. He then had an idea. He hacked out a grenade, and threw it towards them. Skipper yelled, and hid behind Rico. Rico picked him up bridal style, and smiled from ear to ear. Skipper grimaced, and crossed his arms. Rico looked confused.

"You can't scare her Rico. She's not a penguin like us. She's a very fragile human girl." Private said, taking the key from Rico. "You have to be subtle. Now I know subtle isn't your thing, but we'll help." Private put the key back in the grenade, and tossed it aside. Rico frowned dropping Skipper on the floor. Skipper landed with an "Oomph!" Private stared at Skipper on the floor. "Oh, and you can't drop her either."

Next they thought of what to do with Gwyneth. Central Park seemed like fun. They knew that it would be real nice relaxing place, and it seemed like she would enjoy some fresh air. That's what they decided on first of all. Next they wrote down the Brooklyn Bridge, perhaps she would enjoy some architecture. Kowalski recommended the Guggenheim meuseum. That was the best one on the list for sure. If girls liked anything, it was art. Private recommended a carriage ride around. It was something Gwyneth would probably like. Which type of girl wouldn't want to feel like a princess? Skipper had an idea for a place called top of the rock. It was a large observant tower to take people up to view the city. Rico aspecially liked that choice.

He had finally laid out his plans. Rico figured that he would go to her second job, and ask for the date. By the time they had put on the final touches, they were all ready for bed. Rico had assumed that when the boys found out, Skipper would have him out on his ears. He was quite surprisd by Skippers enthusiasm of Rico's date. He didn't even think Skipper liked her. Then again, it always took a little time for Skipper to get used to people. When he was changing into his pajamas, he just couldn't let the excitement wear off. He'd been wild about it since he changed. He sat up on the bed, looking out the loft window. What an awesome world, the human lifestyle. They might not have been able to talk to other animals, but it seemed like humans were each their own species. Some were uptight, others warm, and nice. Some completely basic, and others the most complex examples of human beings. It was like they were each unique in their own way.

"Rico?" Rico looked up to see Kowalski. Kowalski was looking at Rico with a nervous look. It didn't bother him much. Rico moved over a little to let Kowalski sit down. Kowalski sat at the foot of the bed. "I need to ask you . . . do you know how Gwyneth lost her leg?" Rico didn't know, and actually didn't care, and he wasn't going to ask her. He shook his head. Kowalski looked down, and sighed. "Well that's why I was going to tell you this in Private. I'm not the perfect romantic, but I just wanted to tell you, don't ask her. It will make her feel pressure, and that's something someone as busy and stressed as her doesn't need." Rico thumbs up'd Kowalski, and gave him a thank you hug. Kowalski tappd his temple, which must have meant not to forget. He wouldn't. How could he anyway? He had plenty of trouble talking as a penguin. If anything, he had even worse trouble talking as a human.


	7. Unwanted crushes

Over the fence ch. 7

by

Mastermindhunter

The next day, the four boys got dressed, but had nothing planned, other than going to the sweet cream factory. They all got dressed in their origonal tuxedos, and tied their bowties for the day. They decided to eat some toast served downstairs in the dining room. They ate quietly, and watched Rico at the same time. Today was the day. He was going to ask Gwyneth out. He was excited, but also exremely nervous. He had never asked a girl out before. How do you ask a girl out? Do you just up and ask them? Do you kiss them? There was something else he had never done. He'd never kissed with a human mouth. They went up to the sweet cream factory as soon as they finished breakfast. Gwyneth was behind the counter, cleaning the top off with windex. Her sweet cream factory logo visor was casting a shadow over her eyes. They rang the bell, and she looked up. She was wearing makeup. it wasn't too much, but just enough to make her look beautiful. Her hair was down, today, and looked like it was wavy. There was no way Rico would have been able to look away, had Skipper been there to pull him away.

"Boys!" She smiled at them all, and took an extra second to glance at Rico. They all asked for a piece of pie. She handed them all a small porceline plate, with their choice of pie flavor. Skipper got apple, Rico got cherry, Private got derby, and Kowalski got pecan. She looked at her watch, and they stared at the clock. It said ten thirty. They all sat in the corner booth, waiting to talk to her. As soon as she took off to her break, she walked over to boys, carrying a lunch box. They had all made a place for her to sit.

When she sat, the boys looked at Rico, then at her. She told them that she only had five minutes. Whe the contents of the lunchbox came out, there was only a peanut butter sandwhich, and some apple wedges. They chatted about what the city was like, and what they did so far. Rico just smiled, and nodded when nesecarry, eating a few hunks of his cherry pie.

"So you guys are having a good time huh? Making the most of our city?"

"Uh-huh." Rico grunted with his pie being messed up and diced, as he absent mindedly spun his fork around in it.

"Ohp. That's all my time. I gotta get back to work. I'll talk to you all later." She picked up her lunch box, and resumed working at the front, turning back to take a small glance at Rico. Rico smiled, and brought a piece of pie up to his face. It accidentally glided over his cheek. Gwyneth couldn't help but giggle, as Rico blushed, and took a napkin to wipe it off. Private looked at Rico with a confused expression. Skipper crossed his arms with a sneer. Kowalski pinched the bridge of his nose. Rico had chickened out.

"Jeez, Rico! What the point in teaching you the ropes, if your just gunna sit there and do nothing?" Rico put his forehead in his hand, and sighed.

"Skipper, this is harder than it seems. Rico has enough trouble talking. Asking a woman out is even harder for him. Love is not a mission, so you can't treat it like one. I'm sure Rico will ask her out. It just depends on when he's ready, and just now, he wasn't ready." Skipper slowly nodded. Looking at the tiles.

"Hello ma'am. Welcome to the Sweet Cream Factory. My name is Gwyneth. How may I help you today?"

"A coconut ice cream. In a bowl. No nuts this time, dollface! Ya got that?" Gwyneth let out a sigh, and obliged to the angry womans voice. She ran over to the cocnut ice cream tub, her prosthetic foot making a clicking sound. None of them looked at the horrid sounding scene. She handed her coconut ice cream to the impatient woman. The angry womans voice was behind them. Kowalski turned around to see who would be so mean to someone like Gwyneth. It was Alice! Alice was just as cruel outside of the zoo, as she was inside. The boys shot angry glances in her direction. Rico was going to get up. He put his hands on the table, and slowly rose. Skipper pressed his shoulder back down. Alice had grabbed a spoon, and walked towards a table, when she saw the four looking at her. She smiled a creepy, and rather unsettling grin. She obviously missed their anger filled glares.

"Alright, boys. Just act natural. Don't even glance in her direction a second time." Skipper said in a motone voice, poking his apple pie. That's when things got really out of control. The woman that had been their worst nightmare walked over to them. Private was trembling with fear. You could only tell when you were close enough. Alice stopped at the table, staring at Skipper with a sly smile. Skipper raised an eyebrow, not understanding the smile. It made him feel wierd. He stared back at his food.

"Hello, handsome." Skipper's eye's darted open as she was apparently talking to him, not looking at her as he stared blankly at a spot on the table. The boys were biting their lower lip, as they were trying to hold in an amused laugh. This was priceless to the boys. Talk about humor on so many levels.

"Are you . . . referring to me?" Skipper asked turning a deep shade of green. Kowalski put a hand over his mouth, trying not to burst out laughing.

"Well yes I noticed that you were staring at me from the other side of the room." Skipper ate a small piece of apple pie.

"Oh, is that so?" He asked with his lip up in a nauseated fashion, with his back to her. She was being totally disgusting, but he wouldn't tell her that.

"Yep, and I found that rather flattering!" With that, Skipper turned darker green, and choked on his pie, as the others were done with theirs. They were nudging each others arms with their elbows. Skipper had turned away from the green, and switched to a bright red.

"Well that's uhh nice, but I'm about twenty and you're . . . "

"Twenty five." The boys could barely hold their snickers as they sat there, their eyes tearing with giggles. Oh my gosh! Alice was about five years older than they were!

"The truth is that I have a girlfriend. And I don't want to cheat on her, thank you."

"Well what's her name?" Alice asked, obviously not believing his false statement.

"Her name is . . . Marlene!" The boys were snickereing now. What a bizarre coincedence they would meet here. Skipper said that it was flattering, but that they had to get going. They all gathered up, and scrammed out of the glass door, the doors bell overhead ringing as they left Alice standing there, confused. As soon as they left the shop, the three others burst into laughter leaning over each other. Kowalski could barely walk. Private was turning red as he held his ribs. He had never felt his ribs hurt from laughing before. Rico was trying to breath as he was almost done laughing about the hilarious thing that had happened before his eyes.

"Yeah hardy har har. The visit was a total waste of time. I got close to blowing bigger chunks than Rico, and Rico here didn't get his date." Rico had gained his breath by now, and was slapping himself on the forehead. "Don't worry I've got an idea." They walked up to the hotels entrance, and opened the door, the stuck up lady stared at the boys the same way she always did. Skipper had led them into the elevator, and they waited until they reached the top. Skipper had slipped his card into the card slot, waiting for the beep. When it did, he ran inside, and looked for the piece of paper Gwyneth's father, Bill had given them. It had her second jobs address, and everything. He gave it to Rico, and he nervously shook his head no. He couldn't intrude on Gwyneth's second job. That would be rude.

"Come on Rico. If you don't do it now, we'll be penguins far after you start to gain the courage. It's either now or never." Private laid a light hand on Rico's shoulder pulling his eyebrows up in a serious look. Rico stroked his scar, thinking of how bad he wanted to be with her.

They eventually persuaded Rico, and combed his mohawk tuft. When he looked presentable, they sprayed him with a very light cologne. The smell made Rico's eyes water. What a foul smell it was for their adapting nose. Then when they took a look, he seemed ready. They walked out of the hotel, and hailed a taxi. They gave him the paper, and he drove them to a very huge mansion. it was pure white, and looked rather old, and rustic. It was definitly older and larger than all the other mansions on the road, and even they looked old. The boys paused to look at the large mansion. It was not what they expected. Why would Gwyneth work at a residence as her second job? There was a boy with a dark blue scally cap, kind of like Bill's, a few yards away. He looked at the four, who were staring at the muscular boy. He was around their age, and was wider than they were, when he got closer.

"You all like a bunch of butlers. You all work here?" He pointed at the mansion. Rico looked at him, and shook his head. The young man stared at Rico closely. He got so close, Rico had to lean backwards a little. The boy was staring mainly at the scar. "Wait a sec! I remember hearing about you boys. You all are friends of Gwyneth." Rico nodded smiling. The boy stared at Rico's scar wincing. private stepped foreward.

"Yes that's right. We-"

"Hey, Nobody asked you Specky. Name's Kyle. I've heard one of you all's been talking to my girl. Who is it?"

"Listen kid we don't want any trouble. We just-"

The rather large teenager looked at Skipper with an eyebrow raised. "Hey looks who's brave. I'm not giving any trouble, Han Solo, but if you want any I've got some." Which one of you is the boy named Rico?" Kowalski laid a hand on this kid's shoulder.

"Listen, Kyle, if this has to do with Gwyneth, then Rico-" The kid swatted Kowalski's hand away with a sharp smack. He quickly grabbed his wrist, and flexed his hand, glaring at this kid. He smirked at Kowalski's observation.

"Well look who's a great evaluator. Your an average genius. Actually yes, Aristotle. It does concern her." He looked back at Rico. He got in his face, close enough for Rico to smell the cigarette smoke. Rico's eyebrows were down, and looked dangerous. "I expect your Rico. Gwyneth said you can't talk, and everybody shot out to me already. Ha nice scar. Listen Frankenstein, I am Gwyneth's man. She's my property, and you don't steal my property.' He lit up a cigarette, and blew the fumes in his face. Rico held his breath before the boy had a chance to blow the fumes in his face.

"Does she know you like her?" Private asked, his eyebrows worried. Kyle turned back. "Not yet, shrimp. You all know now, though." He took a final galance at them all. "Stay away from my girl, mutey, or you'll be sorry.

"Oh yeah? What are you gunna do to him?" Skipper asked, with sharpness in his voice.

Kyle blew his smoke out. "It's not what I'll do to him. It's what I'll do to one of you. Probably you, Bilbo Baggins." He pointed at Private. Private whimpered a little, clutching Skipper's shoulder.


	8. Mr Wiltshire

Over the fence ch. 8

by

Mastermindhunter

"Don't worry Private that guy is nothing but alot of talk. You know that we can take him any day of the week. He won't be in any proximity near you." Skipper turned to Rico "You go ahead, and ask for a date. We'll take care of Kyle, if he interferes." The boys jumped into the taxi, and left him alone, facing the large mansion. It must have costed twice as much as the mansions around it. He looked at the address on the paper. It read the same numbers as the ones on the mailbox. He walked up the pebblestone steps, to the door. The doorknob was golden, with a design of a lion on it. The inside looked illuminated, even in the bright sunlight. He looked for a doorbell, but there was no normal doorbell to be found. On the side of the wall, there was an ornate cast bronze victorian doorbell. It wasn't a button, but actually a tiny lever. It was as small as a light switch. The little traces of fading on the outer rim, said it was authentic. He took the tiny switch, and gently tugged down. A booming ring sound was inside.

The man who answered was very old looking, but had few wrinkles. He was old, but in a way, a rather handsome debonare looking man. His thick pure grey hair was clean and slicked black. He looked at Rico with a raised eyebrow. Rico smiled at him nervously, and looked past his shoulder, hopeful to see Gwyneth. The older gentleman casted his long skinny arm across the doorframe, noticing Rico's attempt to get a glance inside. Rico laughed nervously up to the older rich man. The man was not laghing, but seemed rather stiff.

"What may I help you with, youngster." The aristocrat literally stuck his nose up, as if waiting for answer. Rico was suddenly struck nervous. "Judging by your appearance, I expect you came here for a job, well, If you're expecting a job as a butler, no thank you. I already have a maid and she's twice the cleaner anyone could ever be." He said in a sharp degrading tone, that could frighten away a monster.

"Wuh-" And, with that, he slammed the door in his face. Was the universe working against his chance to be with Gwyneth? He looked around the mansion to find a door. Underneath a very tall trellis, a window was open, revealing Gwyneth. She was watering a vase of expensive looking flowers. Rico smiled at the sight. How does he get to her? He could call to her. "Hey! Heyyyy!" Blast! She couldn't hear him. He thought of what to do. He knew it wasn't a good idea, but he grabbed the trellis wood, and slowly scaled the wall. It was a lot less scary, from being a penguin. Half way there, she turned around, and walked to other side of the room. Rico grunted trying to pull his big human body up to the window. He gasped, when he almost fell. On the opposite side of the wall, there was a window from the mansion next door, that held a bunch of children looking at Rico with a stare that said what are you doing climbing a trellis? He stared at them blankly, and didn't move. They stared for a little while, then resumed playing with their expensive toys. Rico let out a breath of relief as the children didn't turn him in.

When he reached the top, the room was pure white, granted the flower in the soil. "Gwyneth are you working?!" The man's voice seemed hevier than the moment in the doorway. It was as if he was angry, but it seemed like shouting without anger. She ran over to the piano, to clean the white enough piano of the dust. "Yes Mr. Wiltshire." She panted, trying to please her apparent boss. "Well I don't hear any symphonies in there! You know the rules! Mozart stimulates your brain. I won't have my worker being a slackjaw." She ran over to the record player, and put the needle on the record. Suddenly the sound of piano, and violins seeped through the horn of the antique record player. As soon as the music started, she had taken her prosthesis, and left shoe off, and sat on an old styled sofa. The leg had a real leg look to it. It was a pole, with a foot shape at the end.

She had laid down, looking totally exhausted. "Just for a little while. That's all." She laid down, almost plopping on the couch. Rico tapped on the glass window, not wanting to enter the unwelcoming house. She was still asleep. To his left was a large white piano. He gently tapped a piano key a few times to get her attention. She looked over her shoulder at the unexpected noise. Her eyes shot open at the site. "Rico?!" She looked confused, but at the same time excited. She hopped over to him, her joy overflowing. She plopped on the window sill smiling. She gave him a hug, which almost made Rico fall over the edge of the windowframe. He grasped the rather large curtains for support. "How did you get up her?" She looked over the edge, and saw only the trellis. "You climbed up here? Let me guess dad told you where I was." Rico turned rosey around the cheeks. Gwyneth smiled. "Don't worry. I'm very glad he did." Rico smiled, his cheeks stretching from ear to ear.

She looked at the door, and turned back to him. Her boss, Whom she called Mr. Wiltshire, was in the other room, and didnt seem to hear her. "Listen if Mr. Wiltshire sees me without my leg, he'll know I was napping. if he finds you in here, he make things ten times worse. What is it you need?" She swung her legs over the window sill, and sat with her fingers laced. "Take your time. I won't rush you." He thought of what to do. He sat sweating in his best suit. This was the moment.

"Uhh" He scrathed his head, and let out a heavy breath, his skin constricting. He could only sit there staring at her. She sat there, smiling. He suddenly locked eyes with her, her green eyes seemed to suck his mind out it's skull. He pointed at her in the chest, telling her it had to do with her.

"Okay it has to do with me. You want to tell me something."

"What did you say?!" The voice behind her screamed. She suddenly jumped, leaning into Rico. He tried to grab something, but fell straight out the window. He felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. A large trimmed square hedge had broken his fall from the third story window. He looked up to try to listen to her boss, whom she referred to as Mr. Wiltshire. He heard the door opening above his head. Mr Wiltshire was a lot less loud, as if he was tired or had to calm down. "I thought I heard a voice up here. Is everthing alright?" He asked, looking around. Gwyneth closed the window, and tried to look innocent. "Why are you sitting over there when your leg is over near the couch? You know your dad doesn't like you hopping around without it! Stop buying these things, if you won't use them!" He shoved the foot in her arms forcefully. She let out a grunt, glaring at the older man who was always such a jerk.

"Yes sir." She put on her first two socks, then put on the cushioning, and another sock, and then the full leg. She walked over to the windex, and glanced at her watch. "It's seven o clock. May I leave, and go home?" He looked at her with his eyes as slits.

"Did you clean the bathroom tubs?" She nodded with a small smile. He waved his hand towards the door. As soon as she left the room, she ran down to the floor level, and ran out around the house. Rico was laying there. She knelt down near him, biting her lower lip.

"Oh my gosh! I didn't mean to push you out the window I'm so sorry." She reached down, and pulled his head up slightly. He was breathing, and was concious. "Is anything broken?" Rico had taken many falls. THis one didn't bother him that much. He held his thumb up, saying nothing had been hurt. She let out a heavy breath of relief. When he sat up, she brushed the twigs, and leaves off his tux. "I'm so sorry. If there's any way I can make it up to you. Oh, what were you going to ask me?" He sat there, rubbing his brusied shoulder.

"Date?" He smiled. She was totally caught off gaurd. She had never been on a date before. She was totally nervous, and knew Rico seemed nervous when he was in the window. It was the least she could do, considering her knocking him out the window. He looked at her, with a few scuffs on his jacket.

"You want to . . . go on a date with me?" Rico bit his lower lip. Had he just made a bad move to her? Jeez. He knew this would end badly! He cleared his throat, and nodded a single time. "Of course I'll go out with you!" Her arms wrapped around Rico's neck. He could barely breath. It wasn't because her arms were crushing his neck, but because he had finally asked her out. She offered to help him up, but he refused, showing he had no pain. They laughed together, and Gwyneth hailed a cab. It was her dad, Bill and they hopped in.

"Hey, honey. I see you found Rico." Bill smiled in the mirror. He took his scally cap off, and fluffed it out, showing his black hair underneath. When he whipped it back on, he took off on street. The mansions around them were amazing. Rico couldn't help but stare. He would also stare at Gwyneth, when he assumed she wasn't looking. She occasionally caught his in the act, and he quickly blushed, and turned back towards the mansions. He had to admit they were breathtaking

"They're beautiful, aren't they? Actually he found me. He and I are gunna go around town tonight, if that's alright, dad." She raised her eyebrows, and glanced in the mirror.

"Sure. That's fine."

"Oh and there's one thing. I don't want you spying on us tonight. Steve told me you have tonight off, so no driving tonight." She glared in the mirror. Bill sort of looked to his side, and tried to seem like he didn't know what she was talking about, but he did. "Hey that's fine. I wouldn't watch you all. What kind of person do you think I am?" He looked at Rico in the mirror, and smiled. "Actually, if you ask me, Rico's a rather sweet one of the four. He seems very nice. The one they call Private is nice, but didn't you say that Rico is the one that offered his milkshake?" Gwyneth rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Rico's nice. Well here's the hotel. She'll be here at nine." Rico hopped out, giving Gwyneth one last smile.

"Dad, Don't tell him!" She whined, turning red.


	9. The date part one

Over the fence ch. 9

by

Mastermindhunter

Rico adjusted his tie, in the mirror. Private walked up next to him, and smiled at the handsome human in the mirror. Rico was looking at his tuft, wondering if he should slick it down. It wasn't very sophisticated, and rather rebellious looking. Gwyneth's father probably thought that looked a little questionable. Still, it was something unique about his appearance, and he considered it to be very special. Everyone had something special. Skipper had commando skills, and witty little word play. Private had that charming british accent. Even Kowalski had his reputation of a very proud and yet overreactive personality.

"It's sort of funny, actually. When we look in the mirror, we expect to see feathers and beaks, but this is totally different." He looked at Private, holdig his hands outstretched. "Hmm something seems to be missing. Ooh I've got it" he ran out of the hotel, and Rico looked outside and saw Private outside climbing a tree that was rather tall a bulky. Private then reached for something on one of the branches. Whatever it was, popped off, and he came running back up. When he entered the room, he held a rather fresh perfect little acorn. "I always heard that when you wear an acorn around your neck, it's supposed to help in relationships. It might help." He strung a string through the bulk of the nut, and put it over Rico's head. He tucked it in his under shirt, and looked at the clock. It was eight fifty five. He was dead nervous. Gwyneth was so beautiful. He felt undeserving, and not worthy. The headed downstairs. They zoomed to the front of the lavished hotel. The noticable taxi pulled up to the entrance to the hotel. Bill looked at Rico with a raised eyebrow, implying that he better not hurt his daughter if he knew what was good for him.

"Now I want you to be careful with my daughter, Rico. I know every street in Manhattan."

"Dad would you cool it?" Gwyneth got out, and smiled to Rico in the same way she usually did. She was simply beautiful. A scarlet red scally cap was over her head. She wore a beautiful green blouse with black ruffles on the collar, that matched her green eyes. It looked too cute, so she was definitly looking forward to this evening. She wore black bellbottom dress pants that were very neatly trimmed. Her shoe was a simple black slip on shoe. It looked very cute on her slender leg. She walked up to him, and smiled. He returned the grin, and left the entrance of the hotel. She waved goodbye to the boys who watched her leave.

They left for the Brooklyn Bridge. It was simply the biggest bridge Rico had ever seen. "Wow I could see this bridge a million times, and never get tired of it. Would you like to walk across it on the walking part?" Rico smiled, and nodded. She held his hand. It made Rico blush darkly. As they walked, Gwyneth told him about the city, and a few things about the bridge. "You know, this bridge has been here since 1883. Can you believe it's been here since that time?" Rico had let his mouth drop in authentic surprise. It did seem like a long time, for him. They had passed a few people on the bridge. Rico watched as taxis and large cars drove past. It felt good to not be afraid of them, and to actually be able to walk along the path with humans that looked just like him. Gwyneth was staring in the direction of the west. The water seemed to turn red like the color of the inside of a grapefruit. Along the water, the sun was turning a brilliant orange, and looked very warm, and intense. They leaned on the side, as they saw the sun go down, and sunset on the bridge. Gwyneth leaned on him a little, trying to ease the pressure of her fake leg. Rico put his hand over her shoulder. He gently pressed his head ahead hers, and laughed. She returned the laugh, and walked back to the the end to return to the side of Manhattan.

"So where are we headed to now, Rico?"

He let out a garbled laugh, and clutched her hand, and ran toward the road. "Whoah easy there Rico. You go way too fast for someone who always wears a tux." He stopped, and considered what Private had said about humans being fragile, and very sensitive animals. Gwyneth was out of breath clutching her wrist a little. He had a guilty look on his face, and stuck his lower lip out in a sad pose, to say he was sorry. She smiled at him. "It's alright, Rico. You are very colorful, and fun, and I like that." He smiled, and hugged her letting out a huffed "Yay." He held his hand out to grab a taxi. One stopped to pick them up. He looked almost as pale as Gwyneth, and had strawberry blonde hair. He raised an eyebrow at the couple.

"Hey Gwyneth." he said with a relaxed tone.

"Hey Taylor." she sighed. "Let me guess. Did dad send you out here to pick me up?" He shook his head. Rico looked at her surprised. She shrugged and smiled with a pink aura surrounding her cheeks. He looked at the taxi driver once more, and tilted his head slightly. "When you have a taxi driver as a dad, you know alot of them, I guess." Rico smiled, his teeth glistening. Rico opened the door, and she lightly held Rico's hand as she climbed in, and slipped inside without trouble. The taxi smelled of french vanilla. It was actually rather clean, regardless of the constant rumor of dirty taxis. Rico huffed out "top of rock."

"You got it, pal." He drove through the streets till they reached the GE building. It seemed to stretch straight into the air. Rico grabbed her hand, and strutted with her over to the building. They jumped into the elevator, and pushed the top floor. The elevator lights went off, and on the clear glass cieling, there were many famous moments in time, then after all the impressive moments montage, the elevator said "Welcome to top of the rock." They stepped out to the observation deck. The wind blew Gwyneth's hair back, as she leaned against the railing looking with a loving view at the beautiful city. Rico looked as well, but was then awe struck as he gazed out to the city. It was amazing. The empire state building was giving off a white glow, with orange underneath.

"You know," Gwyneth leaned on the railing next to him. "Some people say that if you toss a penny off the empire state building, it would be like a bullet, and either go through someone's head, or dent the cement below." She looked out to the building in the distance. "The truth is that the walls of the building arent straight up and down. There are layers. If you look over the side, there is a sill that surrounds the area. it's littered with pennies. Pretty funny huh?" That did seem pretty silly. To the left was the Crysler building. It's scaled appearance reminded Rico of a giant fish. A little bit further than that, was the bridge from where they were earlier. The brooklyn bridge stretched far into the horizon. Every little light twinkled and sparkled in the night. Along the other side of the observation deck, the flat iron building stood with its crooked top diagonal to the rest of it's neihboring buildings. He looked out towards the far left, to see Central Park. He had never felt so important in his life, as he did just now.

Gwyneth looked over at the pay binoculars. She grabbed a few quarters out of her pocket, and fed them through the slot. She tried to hop up to the circular bar, but had trouble balancing. Rico held her waist to help her stand. She grasped the giant rotating knobs, and looked through the large bulging structure. She smiled through them, and turned them around, she turned all the way to Rico, and was surprised when Rico was infront of them. She screamed briefly shocked, and almost tumbled back. Rico quickly ran behind her, and caught her before she could fall to the floor. He briefly paused, and stared into her eyes. He couldn't look away. She was so beautiful, and he found it very surprising that she was staring back at him. Her intense green eyes looked at him for a moment, and couldn't look away. She suddenly blinked, and chuckled.

"Thank you. That was close. It's sometimes hard for me to get up, when I fall. Don't think me weak though. Everybody has a weakness. Mine just so happens to be falling down." She got back to her feet, and smiled up to Rico. He smiled back to her. She was such a strong human. Perhaps the boys were wrong about her. He could spend every day with Gwyneth. She was shivering slightly. rico looked at her, and seemed concerned. he put two fingers on her arm. It was like ice. She smiled, and shrugged.

He let out a low "Hmm" His face tightened in deep thought. He then smiled, his face lighting up. He started unbuttoning his tuxedo jacket, and shrugging out of it. His white shirt showed underneath. He casted it over Gwyneth, accidentally shoving her scally cap down, and over her eyes. She giggled, and he gently pulled it up, revealing once again her gorgeous eyes. The scally hat trapped all the hair, and pulled it out of her eyes. Her face was clear, and innocent. they juped back into the elevator, once they were done.

"You didn't have to do that, you know." She smiled. He looked over to her, and raised his eyebrows. She was shrugging out of the coat, and held it out for Rico to take back. "I should have packed a jacket in case. It shouldn't be your job to freeze for my mistakes." She looked away rubbing her upper arm, embarrased by her actions. Rico laughed, and made raspberry noises. He grabbed Gwyneth's frozen hands, and put them up to his warm face. She felt that he was in great tempature. She noticed that her hands were touching his face, and quickly pulled away.


	10. The date part two

Over the fence ch. 10

by

Mastermindhunter

As soon as they left the top of the rock, they made their way to the Guggenheim. It was fairly large, and quite bizarre shaped. Still Gwyneth and Rico were pretty bizzare themselves. When they entered, it was pretty mind blowing for Rico. Kowalski made a great choice. Inside the floors looped about. Gwyneth looke d straight up at it, and slowly turned around. She started spinning counter clockwise, and stopped after a bunch of spins. She held her fingers up to her forehead, and smiled, closing her eyes. "Whoah" Rico caught her as she dizziley fumbled a bit. What a fun place to get lost in.

They started walking toward the first level of floors. People all around had hight of fashion clothes. It wasn't apparent to them, until later, that there was a great amount of artists in the museum today. They had come in the middle of an artists convention. It was no wonder that there were so many pieces on display. The pieces were actually quite wonderful. Some were paintings of bizarre wierd things. Others looked extremely old fashioned, and regal. There was one that showed a woman who was standing on country porch. Rico looked at it, and smiled. It made him think of a life with Gwyneth. Gwyneth walked over to the next one. THey strutted all throughout the museum. There was a large statue that was a sculpture of an American Revolution captain looking out as if he were on a ship. Gwyneth smiled, and turned towards Rico.

"It's sort of a wierd comparison, but for some reason, this statue makes me think of you." Gwyneth chuckled. Rico looked up at the ten foot sculpture, and smiled. He ran over to it, and stood in the same pose that the captain stood. He tried looking serious and stood there, with his hand over his eyes. Gwyneth laughed, and hugged Rico around the waist. Rico blushed, and smiled, as returned the hug. They walked a little further. The painting and sculptures were marvelous. Ricos favorites were the ones of angels. Gwyneth liked the ones which were very abstract. They had spent a good amount of time there. Gwyneth was going to go to the bathroom, then head out. She walked out, brushing her top downwards.

"Uhmm excuse me?" A tall man walked up to the couple. He had neat dark thick hair, and looked rather young, but were older than both of them. "What are these little people doing here? I thought we had this place secure." A museum staff member walked up, and nodded. She was tall, and had a smug look upon her face. Her face looked like it had a permanent frown plastered on it. She looked like the type of person that had been rude plenty of times before. Her hair was an extreme dark red color, and was cut short, and close to her head.

She looked back to the young adults. "Yes quite. Sorry you two, but you must go." She grabbed the two by the arms, firmly, and quite painfully and dragged them towards the doors. Gwyneth had trouble standing, and was slipping under her foot. Rico was concerned, and tried by holding her other hand. Regardles of the worker's glance to her false leg, she didn't slow down. She simply sneered a disgusted look, and resumed pulling her closer to the doors.

"**STOP!" **The three were halted by a rather tall slanky man, with white fashionable hair. "Don't throw these people out. They're just here to appreciate art, and are not causing any trouble, and to thro . . . umm pardon me, but can I have some time alone with these two people, if you don't mind ma'am" The angry lady looked at the obvious artist, and glared at the two people she was about to throw out. They looked at her, hoping they would have their hands let free of this womans grasp. She looked particularly mad, and let their wrists go. They smiled at each other as she stomped away.

The man was about twenty or so. He was also very tall, rivaling Rico human height. He was very fine boned, with long legs. He wore red wine colored pants. His shirt a grey color, with a green scarf. His hair was a snowy white color. He stared at the couple. It was sort of unnerving. "Oh my golly I've fallen in love with inspiration. Look at the two of you. That scar! That leg! Pure beauty! I couldn't imagine getting better models." He took a simple snapshot of the two. Then out of nowhere, many more artists clamoured around them, taking pictures of the two. They were getting a bit dizzy from the flashes. It was as if they were now the latest models. "They are so flawed, yet so amazing! Wow I don't think I've ever seen such beautiful people. I mean look at that scar. It's so prominent, yet it makes him look so handsome. Same thing for the girl. It's simply perfect."

Wow Rico was just a human for a few days, and already he's an inspiration for a model.

"Well that's quite flattering, but we have someplace to go. Goodbye, artists." Gwyneth smiled. Rico grabbed her hands, and they slowly trotted out of the meuseum, hold each others hand warmly. They walked slowly out of the museum, and walked down to central park. When they arrived, Rico had thought that Gwyneth should get a chance to be off her feet. He rented a rowboat, to take out on the pond. It was easy for him to row, being the muscle of the four boys. He was rowing while gwyneth sat on the other side. Rico saw her dip her fingers in the pond. He had never felt water against his bare flesh as a penguin. She yawned, and leaned her head against his heart. It was times like this that he wished his heart rate wasn't so fast paced. After a while on the water, Rico heard Gwyneth groan. "Hmm I feel lazy. I feel like we've been on the pond long enough. Want to go walking on the trail?" That seemed wonderfull to Rico. If she was willing to go out on a trail, he was too. He rowed them both to shore. Along the trail, Rico spotted an apple tree above his head. He thought that if she liked the quarter trick, she would love this. He plucked three off of the branches. Two apples were in his right hand, while one was in his left. In one swift move, they were being juggled, their hollow thuds were heard when they fell in his hands. Gwyneth couldn't help, but be enchanted. Rico juggled them in every way, including behind his back every few tosses. In one swift move, he opened his mouth, and swallowed all three. This srprised Gwyneth greatly. She didn't exactly know what to say. Rico smiled, but then looked worried, when Gwyneth was limping a bit. He grabbd both of her arms, and sat her down on a park bench. She shifted, and unlocked her right leg carefully. A light sigh escaped her lips. "Thank you Rico!" She giggled. She laid it down on the bench between her and Rico. Rico looked at it, and picked it up. Gwyneth smiled lazily at it, but her smile didn't last. It suddenly dropped to her leg.

"I wish that woman hadn't given me that dirty look. I hate it when people make rude faces. Most of the time, I just shrug it off, and continue on my way." She twirled her only real foot in circles. They were quite for a while. "It bothers them a bit, doesn't it?" She looked up at Rico with the saddest imaginable eyes. Rico didn't understand. He looked at her confused. "My leg. I think your brothers are bothered by it. I mean, I thought it was just my imagination, but I watched them out of the corners of my eyes." She looked away grabbing a strand of her long hair, and twisting it around in her fingers. Rico wanted to say that they weren't bothered at all, but he wouldn't lie to her, so he let out a deep groan, and nodded to her. It was true that the boys did find it rather different. She let out a deep breath, and chuckled a bit. "Well I guess it is rather out of the ordinary for normal footed people. Would you like to know why I'm like this?"

Rico had remembered what Kowalski said. 'I'm not the perfect romantic, but I just wanted to tell you, don't ask her. It will make her feel pressure, and that's something someone as busy and stressed as her doesn't need.' He knew it was the wrong thing to do, but he had to know what awful disaster had caused her so much pain. He nodded his head biting his lip. She smiled and hugged his head. She had pulled her scally cap off, and and swept her hair back in her hat.

"Thank you for telling the truth. I appreciate that. You see, it wasn't ripped off by a dog, or anything crazy like that." She picked the foot back up, and fastened it back on. "As a matter of fact, I was born this way. Well not born _this _way. It was actually much worse. In the womb, my leg was sort of crush, and beyond repair. When I was born, they rushed me to the surgery room, to amputate. It got to keep my upper half of my foreleg, and it was rounded of quite well." She looked own, and traced the end. "As the years went on, my leg had grown longer. I would get a prosthesis, when my little one was out of date, and usually I like varieties, so sometimes I wear runner plates, if I'm excercising. When I'm out on dates, I wear this one, mainly beacause you can barely tell." It was true. You could barely tell. Rico, then noticed her voice had gotten softer, and sadder.

"People in elementary sometimes made fun of it, when they knew the teachers weren't looking. They called me things like captain ahab, or hopper. I remember there was an awful girl that pushed me once, when I had gotten a new prosthesis. It was the first day, and I was getting used to it. When I went into the restrooms, she followed me in, and I was shoved down, and called a freak. It took so long to get back up. I was crying in the stall after getting up." Her eyes were getting glittery. " The next time I went to go get a new prosthesis, I remembered a boy that was a little older than I was, then I wondered how bad he got teased. His whole left leg was gone. It made me feel so upset. i just . . . I wish I was pretty like the long leg girls." She looked down so her scally cap was hiding her feyes. "I know that the boys don't mean to stare, and I don't blame them. I don't blame anyone. I just wish that for one day I felt like a normal girl." Her eyes were hidden, but Rico saw tears gliding down greeting at her chin. It broke Rico's heart. He was feeling tears coming close. he just starting crying for her.

Rico felt like he could only do one thing. It felt like it was either now or never. He put his hands on the sides of her jaw carefully, and swiped a tear away. She smiled at his caring act. "Don't cry." He whispered out ruggedly through his own tears. She breathed out with a smile. he smiled back, and kissed her carefully. He doubted he was ever so gentle in his life. Rico could barely believe this was happening. He was kissing the girl of his dreams, and was actually a human for his first kiss. How could he be missing out on something so amazing? For some unknow reason, he reached around her waist and pulled her as close as possible. When she put her arms over his shoulders, Rico had felt like his heart had lifted into the stars overhead. She pulled away, staring into his eyes.

A large smile formed on her lips. "My first kiss." She whispered. Rico smiled back, as it was his first kiss as well. She smiled, and hugged him closely. He returned the hug, ruffling her black hair. She looked down, and giggled. "I never thought that would ever happen. I guess everyone gets their first kiss at some point. Thank you." She laid her head in his shoulder. Rico smiled, and picked her up bridal style. She yawned, and nestled into his chest. Well Skipper didn't like it, but Gwyneth sure did. "Wow. top of the rock, Guggenheim museum, the brooklyn bridge, central park. For once I feel like an actual girl. Actually I feel like a princess. So are we headed home?" He nodded, and pointed over to the street.

Gwyneth's mouth dropped open. Before her she saw a white horse, pulling a carriage. Rico smirked and sat her down in the carriage. She looked at Rico, still surprised by the luxurious carriage. He jumped in, and paid the carriage man enough to go to her home. With a slight jerk, the carriage started up, carefully taking her home. She smiled into his eyes, as Rico held her close in his grasp. Rico could never had been happier. He was officially the happiest penguin in the world. She looked a bit worn out. He couldn't blame her. She rested her eyes a bit. "Rico?" She shifted her drowsey gaze up to him. He looked down raising his eyebrows. "I'm so glad you and your three other brothers came to New York." He blushed, from hearing his voice from her lips. After a long ride, they finally pulled up to Gwyneth's house.

Rico was surprised at what he saw. He expected a luxurious house like Mr. Wiltshire's. It was a tiny little, one story, hovel of a home. He could have swore that it was smaller than the lemur habitat, but then again, he had a small habit, of exagerrating. Inside Rico saw Bill, the taxi driver asleep, covered by a afghan. The television was on infront of Bill. He saw baseball on the television. Gwyneth looked through the window, and smirked. "Dad fell asleep watching baseball again." She smiled up at him. "You can come inside, if you want. You just have to quiet. Dad doesn't like late night guests." Rico noded. Gwyneth slowly opened the door. They tiptoed past Gwyneth's father. She walked over to turn off the television, and tugged the chain hanging from a old looking lamp. Rico followed Gwyneth to her room.

The house was a bit more spacey tha Rico thought. Rico noticed that each room was open, and clean swept. He didn't want to think that it might have been because she couldn't afford anything to fill it with. It was still a nice house though. They walked into Gwyneth's room. Her room was quite pretty. Yet it was different from other human rooms Rico had seen on television. It had a large dresser, with a few items on it. A jewelry box, a small teddy bear, a lamp, and a picture of a much older looking Gwyneth, leaning against a tree. She looked like she was laughing heartedly. Rico guessed it was proably her mother. Her mirror on the dresser was huge, and a bit scrathed along the rim. On the corners at th top, were two long poles. One on each side. One spire held her Sweet cream factory visor, while she slung her scally cap on the other. A small waste basket was next to the dresser. In one corner, there was a box that said. **Gwyneth's box! Don not open! **Above it were shelves, with different supplies. Some of them were very thick socks. Others were thin socks. A large hollow tube sat on the lowest shelf. It had a thick layer of foam inside. It said padding on the shelf's label. Everything was labeled on the shelf. Socks were put in categories. Cushions liners, seals, sleeves, lock ins. Everything set up the way it was supposed to be.

Gwyneth yawned, so Rico thought he should head back home, and let het get her rest. She noticed he was leaving, and reached up to kiss him. When she pulled back, she stared at him, and said something Rico didn't know she would say. "You can tell them about this." She tapped two fingers against her leg. She walked on over to her big chest that said not to open. Rico didn't dare go near it. She looked behind herself, and raised an eyebrow. "You can look at it, if you want. It's just my different prosthesis's." Rico looked in, and didn't realize that there were so many different types of prosthetic feet she had. They all had lebels on them. Some were for sport, while others were for casual days. The foot she wore, was put in a spot that said **Sure-flex. **A bottle of rubbing alcohol and water was put at the top shelf.

She took off her socks from her leg, and laid them in their desired spots on the shelves. Her leg was like a knob underneath. Rico never saw it bare before. He smiled warmly, as she put lotion on it. He reached down, and kissed her. "Oh how can I sleep with you running around town?" She whispered. He grinned, and slid out throught the window. She stretched, and plopped down on her bed. Rico had reached through the window, and grabbed the sheets covering her up. She smiled while her eyes were closed. "Goodnight, Rico. See you tomorow."


End file.
